This time of year, I can usually be found sitting outside on my patio. Most of the time, I sit in silence. I don’t play music. I don’t watch videos. But it’s summer in the middle of town — it’s not actually silent. Nowhere close to that. All those disparate sounds taken separately bring me joy — even the objectively irritating ones — but together they form a complex, entertaining and sometimes beautiful summer symphony.

The first sign of spring at my house is when I hear a woman in my neighborhood start screaming outside. I used to get annoyed at her going “aaaaaAAAAAAAHHHH!!” all the time, but then I realized that when she’s outside doing her thing, that means I can come out of my winter hibernation. It’s a unique sign of spring, but I’ll take it.

Other regular neighborhood musical contributors include:

— The hound dog two houses down who howls and howls and howls and howls all day long and sometimes does so while making eye contact with you through a break in the fence.

— The dog across the street whose howl sounds like my cat when she’s snoring.

— The person two doors down who also sits outside for many hours a day and contributes to the symphony by coughing every five minutes.

— Squirrels chittering and taunting my dog — and the sound he makes when he slams into the fence trying to catch them.

— The mailman closing my mailbox with a soft but distinct clink.

— Songbirds — mostly sparrows — flitting around in the trees chirping at each other.

— Crows caw-caw-ing and pigeons who-who-ing.

— Wind whispering through the tall trees surrounding my house and gently nudging a wind chime.

— Water quietly gurgling through my neighbor’s fountains.

— A lawnmower somewhere off in the distance.

— Bugs constantly flying around my face.

Then there’s the sounds I know by heart but aren’t a daily occurrence: garbage trucks, ice cream trucks, fireworks, the Life Flight helicopter taking someone to PMC, a kid racing a go-kart down the alley, neighbors having an argument in their backyard, someone’s very loud music, a major wind storm threatening to break branches off of trees, the booming thunder during an afternoon storm.

And then, sometimes, a guest musician arrives and I will be blessed with a rare sound.

Just this past week, I was sitting in my outdoor office when I heard a strange call. I’m pretty used to the birds around my house — sparrows, finches, crows, pigeons, sometimes chickadees, if I’m lucky — and can recognize most of them by their calls. This one was new.

I looked up and saw a hawk circling overhead. I quickly got out my Merlin Bird ID app (seriously, I cannot recommend this app enough) and it helpfully informed me that the bird was a red-tailed hawk — a first for me!

Some of my other favorite audio surprises include someone expertly playing the violin well into the night and a mariachi band serenading the neighborhood.

All these sounds combined make up my summer symphony. Sometimes it’s a bit more like a cacophony, but even then it still makes me happy.

Some recent studies suggest that listening to bird song in particular is good for your mental health, and anecdotally I believe that to be true. But making note of all the sounds surrounding my environment — not just the birds — makes me feel more grounded.

Plus, I wouldn’t have noticed that hawk if I weren’t tuned into what all my usual birds sound like. If you’re deeply aware of all the sounds around you, it’s much easier to notice when something is out of the ordinary — and sometimes that something might be really special.